New Delhi: “Some of our people fell prey to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s tactics to break other parties,” Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar said Monday, a day after his nephew Ajit Pawar switched sides and joined Maharashtra’s Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde)-BJP government.
He also said there was an increased need to fight forces that were creating a communal divide in the country.
The senior Pawar addressed his supporters at Satara’s Karad Monday after paying a floral tribute at the memorial of his mentor and Maharashtra’s first chief minister Yashwantrao Chavan.
#WATCH | NCP chief Sharad Pawar and senior Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan pay floral tribute to former Maharashtra CM Yashwantrao Chavan in Karad, Maharashtra. pic.twitter.com/40IZNV5Ch9
— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2023
Meanwhile, the NCP has sought to disqualify Ajit Pawar and eight other legislators who took oath in the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and BJP government on Sunday.
In the disqualification petition filed with Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar, the NCP accused the MLAs of violating the party whip and joining the Eknath Shinde government without informing NCP national president Sharad Pawar.
The NCP’s newly appointed chief whip and Leader of Opposition Jitendra Awhad personally delivered the petition to Narwekar at his residence late Sunday.
Narwekar said Monday that he would take appropriate action on NCP’s plea.
Meanwhile, the Congress has taken exception to the NCP naming Ahwad as the Leader of Opposition – a position that was held by Ajit Pawar before his switch.
#WATCH | Leader of the Opposition will be from the party which has the maximum number of MLAs. Congress has maximum numbers. We will hold a meeting tomorrow on the current political situation in the state: Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat pic.twitter.com/dhIcrJYzk1
— ANI (@ANI) July 3, 2023
Maharashtra Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat said the Leader of Opposition must be from the party which has the maximum MLAs – which the Congress has now after Ajit Pawar split the NCP.
Also read: NCP moves disqualification petition against Ajit Pawar, 8 other MLAs